Essay On The Shawshank Redemption

Prison reform has been an ongoing topic in the history of America, and has gone through many changes in America's past. Mixed feelings have been persevered on the status of implementing these prison reform programs, with little getting done, and whether it is the right thing to do to help those who have committed a crime. Many criminal justice experts have viewed imprisonment as a way to improve oneself and maintain that people in prison come out changed for the better (encyclopedia.com, 2007). In the colonial days, American prisons were utilized to brutally punish individuals, creating a gruesome experience for the prisoners in an attempt to make them rectify their behavior and fear a return to prison (encyclopedia.com, 2007). This practice may have worked 200 years ago, but as the world has grown more complex, time has proven that fear alone does not prevent recidivism. In the 19th century, Dorothea Dix, a women reformer and American activist, began lobbying for some of the first prison reform movements.

Doe Zantamata, an American author, once said, “Good friends help you find the most important things when you have lost them...your smile, your hope, and your courage.” In Frank Darabont’s film The Shawshank Redemption, hope and friendship are a large part of the characters’ lives, as they are inmates in the Shawshank prison. Andy is a newcomer and intrigues Red, an inmate who has been in the prison for a long time. Although Red is not sure what to think of him at first, they soon become good friends. Someone’s identity not only shapes that individual, but also the friendships one makes. Andy and Red’s contradicting identities draw them towards each other and transform their lives forever through their unique friendship.

Is perseverance is an essential human quality? In life, we are faced with endless misfortune and difficult decisions. A person can think of how they do in each difficult situation they face the same way a character in a movie goes through the character arc. An example of this is when your mom tells you she can't afford to send you to your favorite summer camp this year. You have two options, Accept that your family can't afford it or raise the money needed by getting a job. Now if really wanted to go camping you would get a job and save the money for summer camp Along the way you would run into issues because of the choice you made to reach your goal. Problems like social issues, for instance, friends getting mad that your too busy for them

In Stephen King 's "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," a man known as Red tells the story of Andy Dufresne. The authorities arrested Andy for a crime he did not commit and as a result, he ended up in the Shawshank penitentiary with Red. Red described how prison life could take away all hope of surviving on the outside, but for some reason, it did not take Andy 's hope. Red pondered at the fact that Andy was full of hope for many years. His pondering would cease when Andy broke out of jail in a hole he had dug through the wall. Eventually, Red got out on parole, and it was the hope that Andy brought to Shawshank that kept him going on the outside. In this story, Andy was the most hopeful person in Shawshank, but he was also sensible towards the notion of risk and reward.

Ken Kesey’s book titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” encapsulates the theme of insanity. The book questions not only the reader, but humanity on “What is insanity?” and therefore “What makes a person insane?”. An example of these moral questions is best displayed in the quote “Tell me why. You gripe, you bitch for weeks on end about how you can’t stand this place, can’t stand the nurse or anything about her, and all the time you ain’t committed. I can understand it with some of those old guys on the ward. They’re nuts. But you, you’re not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you’re not nuts.” [McMurphy pg.195]. Throughout the book, we, as the reader, can see that there is a fine line between normality and insanity. In fact, the

Beside the terrifying horrors, written by Stephen King, the realistic and deeply psychological novel “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank redemption” seems very unusual. It lacks horrific clowns or extremely dangerous viruses, but still attracts the reader’s attention. Despite the powerful psychological background, the social motives in the story-line prevail. Through the images of Andy Dufresne, description of in-prison social reality and lesser characters, the author depicts the entire American society with the wide range of its internal problems, values and concerns.

Few remember that not just the indicted are changed in the prison system-the authority figures become different, too. Thousands of people go to detention facilities and stay there from minutes to decades, but the authority figures stay there with every influx of new prisoners. The wardens, in particular, are a monumental part of the system. They regulate the prisoners causing them to adapt to situations, whether positive or negative. Samuel Norton, the warden in the adaptation of Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption, is embodied by the atmosphere of the prison. He is an apathetic, selfish man who knows how to take advantage of those around him. In the acclaimed motion picture Shawshank Redemption, Warden Norton displays religion as an agent of socialization; stage-two of Kohlberg’s morality development; and resocialization of the prison system.

It offers up the argument that standing up and speaking out brings triumph--both universally and personally. The juxtaposition of this solution both from an objective view and a subjective view transcends a simple "message" into a concrete argument. •

With time, the scenes became brighter, slowly and gradually throughout Andy’s stay at Shawshank. Andy brought hope to the prison and we began seeing and feeling this throughout the film with the use of lighting. This can be best exemplified by the well-known rooftop scene, where Andy “buys” some of his fellow inmates a moment of freedom. As they sipped a cold beer on a hot spring day in 1949, they tasted the freedom and hope that they craved ever so much, and this was all thanks to Andy. We could see the mood change through the lighting, as it was a spring day. The lighting in this scene helped to capture the message of the power of hope, as we see the men were finally feeling a glimmer of hope in this moment. In the novella, “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, Stephen King used literary techniques such as narrative to help capture some of the key themes. This story is presented as a monologue and a first-person narrative. By presenting the story like this, the reader is given a greater sense of authenticity. Red uses Andy to tell us of the struggles that are faced in prison, to convey the message of hope being a powerful sentiment, and the injustice of the prison system. Red tells us in an

In Stephen King 's "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," a man known as Red tells the story of Andy Dufresne. The authorities arrested Andy for a crime he did not commit subsequently, he ended up in the Shawshank penitentiary with Red. Red, an astute prisoner, described how prison life could take away all hope of surviving on the outside, but for some reason, it did not take Andy 's hope. With hopefulness being an odd trait for a prisoner, it was no wonder that Red was always pondering as to how Andy could stay hopeful for so many years. His seemingly endless pondering would cease when Andy broke out of jail in a hole he had dug through the wall. Eventually, Red got out on parole, and it was the hope that Andy brought to Shawshank that kept him going on the outside. In this story, Andy was the most hopeful person in Shawshank, but he was also sensible towards the notion of risk and reward.

Life constantly bombards us with series of twists and turns which we inevitably have to battle. In these times of struggle, we often look up into the light for small glimmers of hope that helps motivates us to push forwards. While we struggle, hope has always been by our side. In Stephen King’s novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and its film adaptation, directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption, the theme of hope is perpetuated through Red’s character. It tells a life story about Andy Dufresne, a life sentenced convict who proclaims his innocence, who is sent to Shawshank prison. As he slowly integrates with prison life, he meets another man called Ellis, also known as Red, who he gradually becomes best friends with.

Shawshank’s Redemption, an all-time best movie produced in 1994 starred and led by actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. A story about two imprisoned men’s experience with the corrupted prison institution through their way of self-redemption. There is a line, which was well read by Morgan Freeman, I am particularly fond of. Here I quote ‘These walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the

In the visual text Shawshank Redemption director, Frank Darabont, uncovers the impact of institutionalization on prisoners showing that in prisons inmates lose all self-reliance and fall into a monotonous routine forgetting the independence needed to survive in the outside world. There is an emphasis on this idea in the scene of Brooks’ demise. Darabont focuses on the techniques; lighting of Brooks’ face in the library, the slow dolly to his face in the bus, as well as acting, dialogue and a low angle shot to show the idea of institutionalization. Together they all show the impact institutionalization had on Brooks’.

The Shawshank redemption is about much more than just a young banker spending many years of his life in prison. It shows us the struggles inmates go through to adapt to an environment as harsh as prisons and how creating friendships with others helps the men get through the rough patches. The film demonstrates that prison is a world of its own, with its own rules and how many men struggle to fit back into society when they are released.

From the movie choice given, I have choose The Shawshank Redemption. This movie is a 1994 America film directed by Frank Darabont based on Stephen King’s short story “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”